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The Cost of Flood Insurance For Waterfront Homes Is About to Skyrocket

Posted by Sami Thalji | Oct 01, 2021

The dream of living near the water in Florida may soon be dying as the flood insurance market is set to lose subsidies that have kept costs artificially suppressed for homeowners for years. Starting October 1, Florida communities will see those subsidies disappear as part of a nationwide plan and experiment to adapt to climate change. Now, Florida's consumers that want to live on or near the water will have to pay for the real cost of their flood risk, which continues to rise as the planet warms. New rates take into account the home size, meaning large houses by the ocean will see huge jumps in rates.

The new policy approach attempts to focus on fairness, forcing homeowners to properly evaluate and pay for their risk. In essence, the incentive is to get people to move away from high-risk flood areas reducing the human and financial toll of disasters.

An obvious effect of these new policies will be to put negative pressure on home values in areas exposed to rising seas and worsening hurricanes. In some parts of the state, Florida's consumers should expect flood insurance to eventually increase tenfold. For example, homeowners in some part of Tampa with high flood risk to see their flood insurance premiums go from $480 a year to around $7,000. A difficult pill for many to swallow but it this is ultimately the result of the lack of measures taken to offset or reverse climate change. This could reshape entire markets throughout the Florida in the years to come.

About the Author

Sami Thalji

Sami Thalji is a native Floridian, born in Clearwater and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sami graduated from Osceola High School in Seminole, Florida before attending and receiving both his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor from the University of Florida in Ga...

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